28% of SpiceJet flights delayed over 2 hours in July, nearly 4x other airlines combined; IndiGo tops on-time chart
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SpiceJet recorded the highest proportion of flights delayed by more than two hours among scheduled domestic airlines in July, with 28.37% of its flights facing such delays, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The figure was nearly four times the combined percentage recorded by the other airlines covered in the data. Fly91 reported 2.55% of flights delayed by more than two hours, followed by Alliance Air at 1.47%, Star Air at 1.10%, Air India Group at 0.94%, IndiGo at 0.71%, Akasa Air at 0.29% and IndiaOne Air at zero.
Overall, around 1.26% of domestic flights were delayed by more than two hours during July, the DGCA data showed.
IndiGo tops on-time performance
While SpiceJet recorded the highest rate of prolonged delays, IndiGo emerged as the best performer among the five major airlines tracked by the DGCA for on-time performance at 10 major airports.
IndiGo's OTP stood at 91.2% in July, ahead of Akasa Air at 90.8% and Air India Group at 88.5%. Alliance Air recorded an OTP of 76%, while SpiceJet was at just 34.6%.
The DGCA calculates a flight as delayed for OTP purposes when its departure is more than 15 minutes later than the scheduled departure time.
The wide gap between SpiceJet and its peers comes as the airline's domestic market share has continued to shrink. SpiceJet accounted for just 1.6% of domestic passengers in July, down from 1.9% in June and 2.5% in May. IndiGo, meanwhile, increased its market share to 67.4% from 66.3% in June.
‘Reactionary’ delays account for majority
The DGCA's analysis of delay reasons found that the majority of delays were attributed to “Reactionary” factors, referring to delays carried forward through an airline's operating schedule.
The regulator's report said: “the majority of delays have been attributed to ‘Reactionary’.”
The report's detailed breakdown for Akasa Air, for instance, showed reactionary delays accounting for 65%, followed by operational factors at 7%, ATC at 7%, technical issues at 6% and weather at 6%.
Domestic traffic falls 4.8% month-on-month
The data also showed that domestic airlines carried 120 lakh passengers in July, down 4.8% from the previous month. For January-July 2026, passenger traffic stood at 984.03 lakh, compared with 977.79 lakh in the corresponding period last year, marking annual growth of just 0.64%.
SpiceJet's passenger load factor also declined to 84.1% in July from 87.8% in June, while IndiGo's fell to 82.4% from 85.1%.